Spice
Thread Topic: Spice
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Ander's smile vanished as soon as she closed her eyes, pressing the kitchen towel down on the wound. He held her small, blood stained hand in his own, brushing his thumb against the back of it. "Come on, Kenna. Stay with me," he murmured.
Crypta rushed away before coming back with a blood bag and a first aid kit. "She'll need a transfusion. The bullet passed clean through."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Since when did you keep all this surgical stuff?"
She blushed, setting the things down on a nearby workbench. "For my experiments," she said, half to herself. -
Crypta hooked up a narrow tube to Kenna's, pressing her fingers against the pulse in her neck to check her heart rate. "It's fast. Probably adrenaline," she said to the air.
She lifted the towel from Kenna's side, rolling up her shirt just enough to see the damage. She cleaned the area and put some sort of salve on it, then bandanged it and put her hands firmly on it to keep pressure.
Crypta worked tirelessly with Ander as assistance until she finally dropped in an empty chair, wiping sweat away from her forehead. "That's as much as I can do for her. Put some smelling salts under her nose to try and wake her up."
Ander held the smelling salts near Kenna's face, his heart pounding. What if it wasn't enough? What if she died? No, he couldn't think that. He squeezed her hand tighter. It was cold in his own.
"Wake up, Kenna," he whispered. -
During the procedure, Kenna dreamt about her dad. They weren't so much dreams as much as memories, though. How much he wanted her to know how to defend herself, strange phone calls he'd get, how he averted his eyes when talking about his past.
"Daddy, I don't want to practice today," 12 year old Kenna pouted.
The brown-haired man turned towards his adopted daughter, testing the waters as to whether he should be amused by her antics or not. "And why's that?" he asked.
"Because I don't need it! I don't know anyone who would want to hurt me." Kenna said, feeling upset because she had a feeling her father wouldn't listen to her pleads.
"Kenna, you must understand that the danger is not from the people you know and have grown to trust. It's from the people you don't know and don't trust all the way," her dad calmly explained to her.
Kenna thought for a moment. She knew he was right, but she just really didn't want to practice.
"I sincerely hope you never need to use the skills I teach you," her dad said softly. "But there may come a time where someone you don't know or you don't trust tries to hurt you and I want you to be able to stand up for yourself and fight back without doubting what you're capable of.
The memory vanished and was replaced by others more flighty and random. Soon she smelled something strange and pungent. Ever so faintly, a "Wake up, Kenna," called to her. As she rose out of her dreams she felt someone holding her hand, anchoring her to the world of reality.
Soon she woke up, but didn't open her eyes. She may have been unconscious for however long, but she was just so tired. She gave the hand in hers a squeeze to show that she was there while she debated with herself over waking up completely or going back to sleep. -
Ander let out a shaky sigh, holding her hand in both of his. He hung his head, trying hard to stop trembling. She was alive. He lifted his head again, looking at her face with a slight shudder. She was so still, so pale. She had looked like that when she had appeared at his door, her face drained of color from fear and exhaustion. Her eyes had been desperate, pleading. Could it really be less than a week since they'd first met? It felt longer. Looking at her, he felt like he'd known her for a lifetime.
Crypta watched them, an odd look in her eyes. She dropped her gaze, gathering some medical supplies for Ander's burns. She would make her theories later. Right now, she had work to do. She treated and wrapped his arms with bandages. He took it all without wincing, although a muscle in his jaw ticked once or twice when she was a little too rough.
Robo pressed his cold nose into Kenna's palm, whining. He left her for only a moment to get a blanket, placing his paws on the side of the metal table for balance and throwing the blanket over her. He rested his head on her shoulder, making a quiet humming sound as his metal skin began to radiate warmth. -
A comforting warmth enveloped Kenna, chasing the frigid cold she had felt before away. She wanted to snuggle into it, but her limbs felt heavy as if they'd transformed into stone. But now, she was curious about where the warmth came from.
Kenna opened her eyes and realized there was a pressure on her shoulder. Moving her head, she saw Robo and smiled. "Hey, Robo," she whispered. -
Robo happily panted dog breath in her face, although it smelled more of motor oil. Crypta took a moment to sit down, not trusting her shaky legs to carry her much longer. She hadn't seen combat in what, how many years? She'd almost believed that she'd be lucky enough to escape it. But of course, it came back to haunt her.
Ander let go of Kenna's hand, though his fingers lingered a moment as he pulled away. "I hate to say this, but we need to get moving as soon as possible."
Crypta's eyes widened. "What? But Kenna's injured! We need time."
"Time we don't have. Think through it with me, Crypta. Once the fire dies down, they're going to start searching for bodies. What will happen when they don't find any?"
Realization began to dawn on her face. "They'll know that we survived. And...they'll search the surrounding area for a track to follow."
"And then what will happen when they find no tracks leading away from the house?"
Crypta's face was now grim. "They'll know we're still in it."
"That's right. They'll search the house and the first place they'll check is under the carpet. Once they find the trapdoor, it'll only be a matter of time before they break through it." -
"That gives us about an hour, unless they extinguish the fire before then," Kenna said softly. It takes an hour or more for a house to turn from blazing fire to simmering embers. An hour to possibly rest. An hour to run and get a head start.
She closed her eyes and took a large breath. She didn't feel like she'd be able to even sit up, much less walk, or, if need be, run. Just laying there brought her immense pain. She didn't even want to think about moving.
"Do you guys know of somewhere close by we can go to?" she murmured. -
@Indigo Ink
I'm really sorry if this sounds impatient or rude, but remember that roleplay we were doing? Please could you post on it, but if you want too have a break on it for now, please tell me. -
(Yes, I was going to respond to it this morning but the website was down. I've been busy otherwise. For future reference instead of interrupting people's rps, please talk to me in my thread or the rp commentary.)
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^Please don't interrupt roleplays to talk to one of the participants!))
"We could go into a city," Crypta offered. "Try to blend in."
"The city? It's always swarming with Linnus operatives. We'd be lucky to escape with our lives," Ander argued.
"I don't see what other choice we have," Crypta retorted, her arms crossed defiantly.
"We can try to contact Lilac. She could locate a safe place for us by checking the locations of the active members. She has inside intel," Ander replied, pacing the room.
Crypta's jaw dropped. "Absolutely not. It's too risky to try and reach her."
"I can do it. I'll use something only she would know."
"Alright, fine. I didn't want to say this, but it looks I don't have a choice," Crypta sighed. "We can't trust Lilac. She turned us in."
Ander's face grew stony. "You don't know that. I've known her since we were kids. She's not that kind of person."
"People change, Andy. You of all people should know that. You know that it's the most logical explanation."
He shook his head in disbelief. "No. She wouldn't do that, not to me." His voice grew quieter. "Not after everything we've been through. There has to be another explanation."
Crypta pursed her lips. "It seems we're at a stalemate."
Ander's eyes brightened. "Then we let Kenna decide."
"Don't make her responsible for that kind of choice. You're putting too much pressure on her," Crypta protested, wrapping one arm around Kenna protectively.
"She's stronger than you think," Ander said loyally. "She deserves a say in the matter. It's only fair." -
Kenna didn't know what to say or how to decide. She couldn't figure out one way or another what was the right choice. She didn't want to just give a simple, "I don't know," but she didn't know what else to say.
Kenna thought for a moment and remembered her conversation with Lilac earlier.
"I agree with Ander," she said. "The city is too dangerous. And with the conversation Lilac and I had earlier...I don't think she was faking anything she said, I think we can trust her."
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